They Stand at the Gates of Repose
by KriegDiadem
Summary: The Senshi have too much free time.
1. Cessation of Conflict

AN1: Because even though I love these two so much, I never give them enough attention in my fics. Rated T for violence and trigger warning for sexual threats. A fic in (hopefully) three parts. Updating weekly, so should be done by Christmas.

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><p><strong>Part I: Cessation of Conflict<strong>

It had been two long years since they had defeated Galaxia.

Well, more accurately, it had been two long years since _Usagi_ had defeated Galaxia.

In any case, those two years had been peaceful and quiet.

At first, they were worried. It seemed unreal to be finally free of their lives as guardians of love and justice. Rei spent sleepless nights meditating in front of the Sacred Fire, concentrating on dredging up any threat – but there was nothing. Minako canvassed the city, night after night, but all the crimes she encountered were regular Tokyo crimes – stealing, drugs, and the rare burst of violence. No monsters from another plane of existence, no magical force out to get them. Presented with this evidence, Ami conferred with Luna and Artemis. They felt no danger either, and so they finally had to come to terms with it.

Their Senshi days were over. For now, at least.

No more random youma attacks. No more strategy meetings. No more interrupted sleep when their communicators went off during the night, no more missed classes and resulting detentions, no more hospital stays, no more feeble explanations to their parents, no more anxiety about saving the world.

Now the anxiety was at a more manageable level. The Senshi had the kinds of worries that all teenage girls had: am I going to pass this test? Are we going to win this tournament? Does he like me? Did I gain weight? What am I going to do when I grow up?

There was one worry that the Senshi had that most girls didn't: What am I going to do with all this free time?

For in managing their lives they had previously taken into account all those hours that would be stolen away by the forces of evil, out for their blood. Those hours were now emptied out, and filling it proved more difficult than any of them had imagined.

Usagi was the first to adapt to their new lives. For the whole two years she had wanted to be just a normal girl, and she was destined to be anything but. So she made use of the free time, and the girls and a hapless Mamoru found themselves dragged to amusement parks, beaches, and cafés by the dozen.

Rei, a long-time kyudo practitioner, delved into the sport with an unprecedented intensity, even for her. Her modest room at the Hikawa Jinja was now filled with trophies and medals, and she had even gone overseas once, for a demonstration.

Makoto filled the time with her various hobbies. Thinking about it thoroughly, she had the most out of any of them. Flower arranging, gardening, cooking and baking, karate, running... Lately her culinary delights had reached new heights of flavor, contributing to the other girls' worries about gaining weight in their now relatively sedentary lifestyles.

Minako had the hardest time adjusting, having been in the business for the longest out of any of them. She had decided to keep fighting crime, much to everyone else's dismay. She assured them that she was perfectly safe, since she had someone watching her back at all times. Somehow, Minako had managed to drag Sailor Saturn into the sordid business as well. But their more esoteric attacks were out of the question, humans being unable to withstand even a simple Venus Love-Me Chain and certainly not any magical attack Sailor Saturn could dish out. They stuck to the hand-to-hand combat basics.

And then there was Ami. Ami, who had in the past strictly regimented her time, found herself at an almost total loss. She had already won a few regional swimming competitions and was uninterested in going any further. Her grades climbed ever higher as she completed more and more extra credit assignments, until she was banned from doing any more. Finally, the school's administration decided to assign her a capstone project, a project that she poured hours into, going far beyond a high school level.

Still. To her shock, she found herself idly wondering at times whether she could join Sailors Venus and Saturn on a few of their outings. The ever-present power thrumming under her skin seemed to grow stronger now that she was no longer exercising her Sailor Mercury powers. The thrumming was getting so strong that it threatened to overwhelm her at times, so strong that she was pushed to transform into Sailor Mercury.

And then she would be standing alone in her apartment, dressed in a sailor fuku and knee-high boots, feeling a little foolish.

One time she was inspecting herself in the Sailor outfit, standing in front of a full-length mirror in her room, when Luna suddenly appeared on her window ledge.

"Luna! How did you get up here?"

"Ami-chan! _What_ are you doing?"

What _was_ she doing? Ami had no real idea.

"Say, Luna. Don't you think this skirt is a little short?"

"_Now_ you notice?"

One time her mother almost caught her. Ami had been standing in the living room, going through the motions of a Shabon Spray without actually putting any power into it.

Stretch arms in front, palms open. Draw hands close, about a foot apart. Wait for initial energy to congeal into a bubble form. Lower hands, twirl once, cross arms at slightly higher than chest level. Fling arms apart. Release energy.

Then she noticed her mother was standing at the door frame, looking at her oddly.

"Ami? What are you doing?"

God protects fools and children. At the moment, Ami firmly felt like both. Something had stopped her from transforming that day. A higher power, Ami thought, the kami that Rei prayed to, perhaps. Dressed in her civilian clothes like that, her movements had likely looked like a very strange modern dance performance to her mother.

Another saying occurred to Ami. Success is the child of audacity. It was a Minako strategy, but Minako had a 73.9% success rate with it. It would be worth a shot.

"You know how I'm a big fan of Sailor Mercury?" The expression on her mother's face quite clearly said that no, she had not been aware of that, but Ami ignored it and pressed on. "I've watched a few news clips and I think I've finally gotten the moves to one of her attacks down."

"Ami, sweetie," her mother began, but she stopped herself short, and sighed. "Well, I guess at least it's not more school."

That was where Ami found herself now, her thoughts wandering instead of focusing on the paper about molecular genetics that lay on the table in front of her. She was having a hard time concentrating, her gaze instead captured variously by the others around her. She was in the library, having been given a free period every other day to work on her special project. There were a few other students around, running errands for their teachers, working on the computers, printing things out.

Then there were the two girls sitting at the table next to hers, one of them crying about her terrible new haircut, the other trying to comfort her. And failing. Ami couldn't fault her for that, for it was difficult to assure someone their new haircut wasn't so bad when it was truly and undeniably awful. She fingered the tips of her own hair, wondering if she should let it grow out. Minako had cut her hair to shoulder-length recently, and the fallout was a multi-day ordeal of crying and comforting. She hated it, even though she looked as good as ever.

Yes, they all rolled their eyes whenever Minako boasted about her good looks, but only because of the great display of vanity and arrogance. She was right on the money, though. Even now, two feet shorter, her long blonde locks were the envy of many at Juuban Municipal High, and her big blue eyes had claimed many love-struck victims.

When she really thought about it, Ami realized that all her friends were rather gorgeous. Usagi and Minako could have been clones, Usagi's coloring just a shade darker. Usagi had fewer admirers because she had none of Minako's athletic talent and zero grace to speak of. Rei and Hotaru shared that porcelain-doll look, stark black hair highlighting delicate, pale skin. To speak nothing of the fabulousness embodied by the older Senshi, Michiru, Haruka, and Setsuna.

And as for Makoto, well. Her looks were sorely underappreciated. Yes, she was rather tall and intimidatingly strong, but why did that blind so many boys to her charms? Entrancing green eyes, beautiful brown hair with that reddish tint that set it apart, easy-going manner, adorable smile, an impulse to protectiveness, strong determination, boyish charm, undeniably feminine assets…

Ami shook her head. Makoto was objectively beautiful in both looks and personality. All the boys who passed her up were being utterly irrational.

That girl at the nearby table was still crying and seemed unlikely to stop anytime soon, Ami determined. She'd have to just block the sounds of sobbing out and keep her eyes focused on the paper in front of her.

_.. of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We review this literature, with a particular emphasis on oil molecular genetic studies. Family, twin, and adoption studies... _

A ringtone suddenly blared through the library. Ami jumped and looked around, intent on glaring at whoever forgot to silence their phone while at a library, until she realized it was hers. Embarrassed, she grabbed the paper and her backpack and answered the phone while making her exit.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon. I am Dr Jou Kido. I work at Juuban General Hospital. May I speak with Mizuno Ami?"

"Speaking," Ami answered, her grip tightening on her cellphone. She felt her heart speed up. She would only be called directly by a doctor if something had happened to her mother. Grisly scenarios flashed by her eyes, each less likely than the last but at the same time more heartrending.

"I'm calling regarding Kino Makoto."

"Mako…chan?"

"We found your contact information in her wallet on an In Case of Emergency card."

"Oh my god. What's her condition?" Ami was already halfway down the hall that would lead her to the school's main doors.

"Stable, but unconscious. She'll probably awaken in the next few hours, but we felt obliged to contact you."

Ami pushed the door open and blinked in the sunlight. She knew exactly were Juuban General was, having been there an unfortunate amount of times, so she began walking there at a fast clip.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," she said. She hung up and looked thoughtfully at her cellphone. Her attendance record wasn't anywhere near perfect but her grades more than made up for it. Usagi and Minako, on the other hand, could hardly afford to get even further into teachers' bad books. Making a decision her fingers flew across the keyboard.

FROM: AMI

TO: REI

Makoto in hospital but is ok. AFTER school get Usagi and Minako and come. Thx.

X

Eighteen minutes later and Ami was in the hospital's casualty ward. Her inquiries got her nowhere, but this was to be expected. She wandered the halls, ignoring the curious looks she received from the doctors and nurses milling about. Yet another thing she had learned from the Minako school. Act like you belong somewhere, and almost no one will question you.

She found a lounge and cracked open the door to give her just enough space to stick her head in.

"Anyone seen Kido around?" she asked.

"Last I saw he was in room 214," a doctor replied. She thanked the man and hurriedly made her way to 214. When she opened the door she was happy to see that the doctor was still there, but rather unhappy to see her friend lying on the bed, white bandages wrapped around her head and arms, her lip split open and starting to form a scab, topped off with a black eye.

"Mizuno-san, I presume?" the doctor said, taking in the girl's uniform and anxious expression.

"Yes. Doctor, what happened?"

"Someone brought a knife to a fistfight," he said solemnly, "Or rather, a lot of someones brought several knives to a fistfight. Fortunately she didn't get stabbed but her hands, arms and stomach have a number of cuts and she might have suffered a concussion. Oh. And her knuckles are bruised."

This indeed answered Ami's questions about _what_ had happened, but did not help her piece together _why_ it happened at all. Try as she might she couldn't help but look irritated. The doctor read her expression.

"I'm sorry, Mizuno-san. You'll have to ask her that when she wakes up. In the meantime, since she's stable, I'll leave you two alone. The buzzer is on the right side of the bed if you need anything."

The doctor made his exit, leaving Ami to her own thoughts.

Which mostly consisted of one question: why? Why had this happened? This was clearly the work of average humans. Black eyes and concussions they had gotten before, from well-delivered smacks to the face or particularly well-timed blows to the head. But none of the evil forces they had ever combated, human, humanoid, or not, had ever used a knife. Swords and magical guns, yes. But knives were too straightforward for the always ostentatious baddies.

So then, Ami deduced, there were three options: either a bunch of people had suddenly jumped Makoto, or Makoto had responded to taunts with violent action, or Makoto had decided to suddenly attack a bunch of knife-wielding people.

The only option that made any sense was the second one, which left Ami with two questions.

What kind of taunt could have possibly compelled Makoto to get into a fight, and _why_ had she let the violence go so far?

And a final question, that suddenly occurred to her: how could Makoto have possibly lost?

Ami was about to get answers to her questions. Makoto stirred on the bed and suddenly her eyes shot open. She closed them again just as quickly, groaning from the pain of the light hitting her pupils. This time she opened her eyes more slowly.

"Ami-chan?" she asked. Ami helped her sit up and lifted a glass of water to her throat. Grateful, Makoto took a few sips. She felt unusually dehydrated. When she had her fill Ami set the glass aside and then silence reigned as the two girls looked at each other for a few long moments. Makoto finally looked away, a blush rising to her cheeks. Ami sighed. So Makoto had done something to be embarrassed about. Fortunately, it was rare for Makoto to hold out on information.

"Mako-chan, what happened?"

"I got into a fight," Makoto answered, her voice soft. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have."

Ami sighed yet again. As expected, but she was still a little disappointed. "You should be apologizing to yourself, Mako-chan, not to me." That sounded preachy even to her own ears, but it seemed to strike Makoto as calculated. Unable to make eye contact with Ami, Makoto looked at her hands, fiddling with her fingers.

"Actually, this time, I think I do need to apologize to you." It was Makoto's turn to sigh. "I really screwed up."

"By which you mean…?"

"I mean if they tell on me, I might get expelled."

"What!"

Makoto grinned. "They're not going to tell, though."

"Kino Makoto. You tell me what happened, right now."

X

Lunch break! Thank the kami. Makoto hightailed it out of the classroom. In her final year of high school she shared no classes with her friends, making every day go by torturously slow. It was only at lunchtime that she could see the bright and friendly faces of the other Senshi.

Not all the time, though. She stood at the door to class 3-A and watched with some consternation as Usagi and Minako were desperately scribbling away at something. They didn't even bother to look up, and hadn't even taken out their lunches. She moved to approach them, but the teacher intercepted her.

"Today, Tsukino-san and Aino-san, who believe that it is appropriate to pass notes in class with rankings of the hottest teachers at Juuban Muncipal High, will not be having lunch until they have each written a 1000-word apology. Sorry, Kino-san."

She glared at the two blondes, annoyed. Didn't they realize how important it was to her to have lunch with them? Nothing for it, then. She left the school building and the school grounds and made her way to a nearby park. Settling herself under a large, leafy oak tree, she carefully she unwrapped her lunch. The multi-level bento box she prepared every day seemed excessive now that nobody would be sharing it with her. Ami had to talk to a teacher about that project of hers, so Makoto would be all alone for this lunch period. Too bad Rei had opted to stay at that fancy school of hers. Rei would probably never be stuck in detention.

Actually, Makoto realized, Usagi and Minako would probably somehow drag Rei into detention right along with them. Maybe her choice had been wise.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard one of her friend's names mentioned by someone nearby. She stopped chewing and listened intently.

"That bitch. I can't believe she's doing _more_ extra credit. Dad is gonna kill me when he sees the rankings for this semester."

"Fuck, man, you're pretty screwed."

"Whatever, screw her. She's probably never had a fun day in her life."

"Probably not. Too bad, with that tight body she's got."

"Small boobs, though."

"She'd probably be up for anal, though."

"Why's that?"

"Cause she's got a stick up her ass all the time anyway!"

The boys laughed, as if it were funny. Makoto had heard enough. Standing up, she carefully considered her position. They were students, but they weren't on school grounds. It was worth the risk, she decided.

Casually she strolled towards the boys. There were five of them in total, two of them sitting on the swings, two others leaning against the posts that held the swingset up, and a final one standing slouched with his hands in his pocket. He was the first to notice her and she almost laughed at the alarmed expression on his face.

But the expression quickly changed into a smirk. "If it isn't that bitch's little friend." So this was the one who was mad about the grades, likely the leader of the pack.

"Little?" She no longer towered over the boys like she had in the past, but she was still even with most of them and was a bit taller than some. "Maybe you big boys would like to tell this little friend what you were running your mouths off about."

Makoto approached the boy until their faces were less than a foot away, but her icy glare failed to faze him.

"We were just talking about how we'd fuck her. Mizuno Ami. She looks pretty delicate. What do you think, boys?"

"We might not even need to tie her up," one of them replied, "Just grab both her dainty wrists in one hand."

"By the end of it she'd probably be begging for it," another added.

Oh no. Makoto tried to control her breathing, but she could feel Jupiter's power surge within her. She would do something she'd regret, soon, she knew. The air around her began to electrify, ions clashing, sparks about to fly. For a moment the boys fell silent, looking around, trying to determine why the hair on the back of their necks was suddenly standing up.

"By the time I'm through with you, _you're_ going to be begging for mercy," Makoto said, her voice low and threatening.

But the boy didn't know when to cut his losses. He laughed in her face.

"Listen, girl, I heard some things about you but this isn't junior high anymore. You couldn't take us if you tried."

At this Makoto relaxed a little. Good. Now they were insulting her, not one of her precious friends. She breathed more easily, felt the power dissipate.

But the boy's next words brought it back to the fore.

"We could rape your little girlfriend all day long and you wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop it. What is it that she calls you? Oh, yeah. _Mako-chan, Mako-chan, help me! Please, don't! It'll never fit, it's too big – ahhh, help me, Mako-ch_–"

She yearned to unleash a Supreme Thunder Dragon on him but she had to settle for the next best thing. She drew her fist back and sent it flying at this annoying boy's face, hitting his nose with a satisfying crunch. Blood poured over her fists as the skin covering her knuckles split open and as his nose poured blood.

"Ah, fuck! Kill this bitch!" he said, his voice muffled as he desperately tried to stem the blood flow. The other boys immediately rushed at Makoto, but she had two of them down before they even knew what hit them, one getting a kick to the liver, the other a punch to the windpipe.

That left two of them, and they had adopted boxing stances.

"Didn't your sensei ever tell you not to use martial arts dishonorably?" she asked.

Apparently not. Their fists went flying. She ducked but one of their punches glanced off the top of her head, disorienting her for just a moment, long enough for one of them to knee her stomach. She keeled over at the force of the blow. Muay Thai? Just her luck. Another kick flew at her head but this time she reacted quickly enough, catching the foot and pushing backwards, throwing the attacker off balance. The boy fell to the ground heavily, raising dust clouds up around him. The other attack hadn't quit, however, and the next moment she was on the ground, having taken a kick to the head. She blinked as she watched the boy loom over her, his foot hovering above her face, ready to stop. She rolled away just as his foot came down and leapt to her feet.

"Did your sensei actually teach you how to fight properly?" she asked. With an enraged cry the boy rushed at her like an idiot, leaving openings everywhere. Casually she swept his legs, making him tumble to the ground, and she then placed her foot on his neck, putting light pressure on his Adam's apple.

"Feel like having a girl's voice?" She wouldn't actually have done it, of course, but seeing him pass out from fear was rather satisfying. She clapped her hands together. "Well, that's that." She turned around, looking for the leader, and was rather surprised to see him holding a knife high in the air, ready to slash at her. Gritting her teeth she crossed her forearms in front of her so that they took the brunt of the damage. Blood began to pour down her arms, slipping off her elbows, and with a sinking heart she realized that she might need a blood transfusion.

But no time to think about that now. The three others had recovered and were also wielding knives. Well, she had managed to put one out of commission through fear alone. With a little decisive action, she could surely take on the other four.

It was risky, but she had to try it. She rushed towards one of them in a sudden burst of speed and grabbed his arm, twisting it until she heard it crack. The knife slipped from his grasp. Wrapping her arms around his neck and clasping her hands together she pulled his head down and lifted her knee at the same time, the meeting of the two resulting in his unconsciousness.

One victim down, but there was someone coming from behind her, fast. She whirled around and sucked in her gut. The knife still cut through her shirt, leaving a thin line of blood on her abdomen, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been otherwise. The boy kept slashing, and she defended with her arms, wincing as the pain lanced through her. The other two boys joined him in his efforts. What idiots. Why were they so insistent on slashing, when stabbing would be sure to get her hospitalized?

Let them do what they want, she thought, finally finding the perfect opportunity. She rapidly lifted her arm in a slapping motion, knocking the knife out of one of the boy's hands. In the process she cut her hand open. No matter, except it made the next move difficult since her hand was slippery with all the blood. She reached forward and grabbed the disarmed boy by the collar, lifted him and began spinning him around, forcing the other two to keep their distance. When she let go the boy went flying, his body smashing into one of the swingset's poles.

Two remained. She kicked forward, her shin earning a few cuts as she caught one of them in the gut. He went reeling backwards, coughing. Then she turned on the leader, a feral grin in place. He feebly stabbed forward with the knife, the only one with any sense, she decided, but it was too little too late. He suddenly felt a current of electricity run up his arm, forcing his hand open. The knife dropped on the ground, ineffectually. What the hell had just happened? He quickly forgot about trying to figure it out when he felt a great pain in his private parts. Makoto continued to kick at him in the balls, feeling great satisfaction at his screams of pain.

She hadn't forgotten about the last one, the trained fighter that she hadn't knocked out. He had recovered his breath and now came rushing at her, knife firmly in hand. She let the leader drop to the ground and kicked upwards right as the boy slashed his knife downwards, sending it spinning into the air, landing far away from both of them. If there was one thing to say for this boy, it was that he was very determined. He grimaced but came at her with a straight punch, which she easily deflected before countering with an uppercut. It landed cleanly and strongly and he flew upwards and backwards a few feet, landing on his back. She strode over to him, lightly kicked him in the side. A KO! She smiled, proud of herself.

Then she felt something heavy hit her in the back of the head. She keeled forward, half-conscious.

"Fucking bitch! My balls hurt like hell!"

"I saw what happened." Makoto heard a familiar voice. Haruka? "Little boy, you shouldn't be too proud of winning a five-on-one fight. Let's try five-on-two, hmm?"

And then Makoto passed out.

X

"So that's what happened," Makoto finished.

"Mako-chan!" Ami was horrified. By the boys' comments, by Makoto's violence…and she was also perplexed by Haruka's suspiciously timely arrival. But she knew that inquiring into that would lead her nowhere, so she stayed focused on Makoto. "Mako-chan," she repeated, "Why did you do it? Surely you've heard people belittling me before."

"Yeah," she admitted, "But they weren't threatening to _rape_ you."

"Do you think they would have actually done it?"

"No…but still!" Makoto quickly realized that this was a less than convincing argument. "Look, I told you, I'm sorry. But I couldn't help it. Well, I _could_ have helped it…but they were being jerks!"

"Come on, Mako-chan. You were itching for a fight."

After a long moment of silence Makoto slipped down and covered herself a bit more with her blanket. "Maybe a little…"

"Well then, I don't blame you," Ami said.

"What?"

"I've been itching for a fight as well," Ami continued, "I accidentally changed into Sailor Mercury while sleeping. I find myself idly moving my fingers, as if playing a harp. Mercury Aqua Rhapsody. And if the feeling is so strong in me, then, I probably should have seen it coming in you."

Makoto could hardly bear the sympathetic look that Ami was giving her. She covered her head with the blanket. Ami pulled it back. "I'll figure something out," she said, brushing Makoto's bangs back so that she could see her face. "Poor Makoto." Ami brushed the back of her hand against Makoto's cheek, who winced, and bit her lip, since her whole face hurt. But it did feel a bit soothing.

"Anyway, for what it's worth, thanks for defending my honor." Ami bent over and hastily placed a kiss on Makoto's forehead before she could change her mind. Sitting back down she smiled shyly and quickly looked away, feeling her face heat up.

"You're welcome."

And then they heard voices nearing the door.

"Rei-chan, you meanie, why didn't you tell us earlier!"

"Because, you idiot, she's perfectly fine! I mean" – the door banged open, and suddenly Rei, Usagi, and Minako were in the room – "Just look…at…her…Ami-chan! You said she was doing okay!"

"Okay for someone admitted to a hospital, Rei-chan," Ami primly replied. Rei covered her face with her hands as Usagi rounded on her, scolding her, while Minako rushed to Makoto's bedside.

"Mako-chan! What on earth happened!"

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><p>AN2: The name Jou Kido is, of course, stolen from Digimon. Also, five armed fighters would quickly disable or kill one unarmed fighter, so what I've depicted here is totally unrealistic, but it is Makoto, after all.<p>

Undoubtedly some of you are wondering: when are you going to update _Counterweights_? Answer: I am stuck on a plot point. I think I have found a solution I can live with but I'm not entirely happy with it. Anyway I'll probably update over the holidays.


	2. Contact

AN1: I bumped the rating up. It doesn't get _too_ explicit, but better safe than sorry. Also, I think the Japanese school year starts and ends in April. Since the girls are close to graduation everyone (except maybe Rei, depending on the exact date of when the school year starts) should be 18.

**Gear001**, thank you for the offer of help, I may very well take you up on it! Also, I think you're right about the importance of team cohesiveness. **Neanda**, I was watching some clips of Makoto's attacks and I was amazed, she totally rocks! **Shaoran009**, thank you for your review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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><p><strong>Part II: Contact<strong>

The version of the story that the other girls heard was highly edited. Makoto left out the more graphic descriptions of violence and failed to mention some of the less savory things the boys had said. As a result, her motives seemed a little underwhelming.

"So, you beat up five guys, because they were making fun of Ami?" Minako asked skeptically.

"Yes." Makoto answered, sounding quite sure, but those glances that Minako and Rei were exchanging clearly signaled their disbelief. So Makoto let her eyes shift to Usagi, who looked a little shocked but had no trace of skepticism. Following her gaze Minako and Rei nodded. They would grill her later for details, but with Usagi around, they would allow her a reprieve.

"Well I do believe you when you say you wanted to go Sailor Jupiter on him," Rei said, clenching her own fist. "Honestly, I've been feeling Sailor Mars pushing at my skin. I once set fire to the bed in my sleep," she admitted, embarrassed. It had been difficult to explain that to her grandfather. "I think she wants out. I'm starting to feel a little desperate."

"Me too," Minako said. "I've had to lay off the crimefighting for a bit since I almost pulled out a Love and Beauty Shock one time when I was really frustrated with a robber…"

To everyone's surprised Usagi laughed. "Sorry. It's just…after you all lost your memories of fighting the Shittenou and Queen Beryl, I tried so hard to make sure you didn't get involved again. But here you all are, desperate to fight as Sailor Senshi."

"They can't help it," Luna said. Minako had smuggled Luna and Artemis in under her coat. "You were born to rule, but they were born to fight."

At this they all fell silent, feeling somewhat uncomfortable by the idea that they felt so compelled to fight. Blood lust? But they didn't want to really harm anyone, either. They just wanted to battle. It was that simple.

"So what happens if we don't unleash our powers?" Minako asked. "Other than unfortunate accidents."

"The feeling might get unbearable. Like a low-level pain, or an itch that you can't scratch. Something along those lines," Artemis explained.

"So like…blue balls?"

Artemis sighed. "I wouldn't have put it so crudely, but you're basically right, Mina-chan. You know what they say about sex and violence. They're so similar it's no surprise they intersect occasionally."

"Anyway," Ami hastily interjected, before the conversation could stray too far off, "I'm somewhat hesitant to suggest it, since we could really hurt each other, but it's the only thing I can think of. How about we hold sparring sessions?"

"No!" Artemis and Luna both said at once. The girls were rather startled by their vehemence. They looked at the cats, wide-eyed. "You really could hurt each other quite badly," Artemis said.

"Then you think of a better suggestion before I set the whole Hikawa Jinja on fire." Artemis and Luna stayed quiet. Clearly no better suggestion was forthcoming. "If you think of anything, then, let us know. In the meantime, whenever Makoto gets discharged let's meet at my place and work the details out. Minus you, Usagi."

"What! Why?"

Rei looked at her oddly. "You don't want to fight, do you?"

"No, but…"

"And you wouldn't want to see us hurting each other."

"No, but…"

"Then don't come. Mako-chan, when are you getting discharged?"

"Tonight," she said, a stubborn tone in her voice that Ami had to laugh at.

"No, you're not," Ami said, firmly. "This hospital is keeping you for at least two days to make sure you recover." Or they'll have to deal with me, she thought.

X

They met at the Hikawa Jinja two days later, in Rei's room, sitting around the low table. There they decided to fight in a round-robin, and drew straws to determine who'd fight who first. The safest place they could find to hold such battles was on the Jinja's grounds, in the forest behind the building proper. There was a large clearing there, the trees forming the boundaries of a ring. They were quick to decide on a simple set of rules:

No setting fire to the trees. That means you, Mako-chan! Geez, Rei-chan, who's the one who's most likely to do that?

Battles are over when the referees say they're over or when one of the combatants gives up. Referees are not allowed to abuse their powers, _Minako-chan_. I wasn't going to!

If you feel like you're at your limit, you have to give up. That means you, Mako-chan! Why is it always me? I'm not the only stubborn one in this group!

The two shortest battles were Venus against Mars, and Venus against Jupiter, both being won by the former. Venus's expert needling quickly burnt out their short fuses, resulting in mistakes that to Ami, watching from the sidelines, were all too clear. Other than those two, the battles tended toward the long, protracted, and explosive side, leaving the girls gradually more and more exhausted as they exerted more of their long-withheld powers.

Ami rarely congratulated herself, but this time she really had to. After having fought Sailor Venus to a standstill she felt the best she had in months, letting the power freely flow out of her instead of vainly trying to suppress it. She also had to admit that the combat appealed to her intellectual side, having to use tactics and a certain amount of creativity to compensate for her relatively weaker physical powers. Like a lever that could lift many times its weight, Ami's water-based power was exploited to the hilt, fighting far above what her weight class otherwise would have been.

Now she and Minako were standing at the edge of the ring, watching as Jupiter and Mars duked it out. This was a battle that even Usagi might've liked to watch, she thought, taking a few steps backwards as the clash of fire and lightning came a bit too close, singing the edge of her collar. They had been at it for half an hour, and looked utterly worn out. But with clenched teeth and fierce eyes they continued, neither willing to give up. Bruises were already visibly forming and the blood flowed freely from punches to the face and the lacerations gained from having been smashed into the surrounding trees one too many times. Ami was starting to worry about the possibility of cracked ribs, particularly with that thing Jupiter did just now, poor Mars, but oops, she wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that Flame Sniper either. Ami exchanged a mildly worried look with Minako, who nodded.

"Time's up, ladies!" Minako shouted, her voice easily carrying across the clearing. Mars and Jupiter looked at her like they were going to refuse, so Ami wordlessly held up the agreement they had signed with their Senshi symbols. Presented with the evidence of their promises, the two dropped the attacks that were already half-way formed, and made their way to the edge of the ring.

"So who's left?" Minako asked. "Mako-chan and Ami-chan?"

Ami cast an askance glance at the beat-up Makoto. She was half-way bent over, rubbing her right knee that had gotten the brunt of a Burning Mandala orb.

"Maybe we'd better skip it this time," Ami suggested. Catching her worried look Makoto quickly stood up straight and smiled. Clearly Makoto was not going to be refused a third fight. "Oh, alright. I'm counting on you two to stop it if things go too far," she told Minako and Rei, who nodded dutifully.

With that assurance, Ami and Makoto took their places in the center of the ring, and powered up into Sailors Mercury and Jupiter. They faced each other in battle stances. Feet apart, knees bent, triangular stance to maintain balance. Triangles are the most stable shapes, after all, Sailor Mercury idly thought. She had no more time to think as Jupiter came running at her, fist drawn back with arcs of electricity surrounding it. She ducked and the fist went flying over her, and then her face met the business end of Sailor Jupiter's foot. She went sprawling backwards, feeling blood slip from her nose.

Well, there went her plan to go easy on the other girl. She somersaulted backwards, avoiding a few continuous strikes of lightning that appeared from the sky, and finally rolled onto her feet, leaping backwards to avoid one last bolt of lightning. Already she was breathing hard. She felt sweat form on her forehead and slip down the side of her face.

Warily the two girls watched each other, Jupiter's expression unreadable, Mercury's expression openly calculating. The problem with fighting Sailor Jupiter when she was in a calm state of mind was that she was very, very good. She only left openings if it allowed her to get a knockout hit on her enemy. Her moves were both quick and powerful at once. The only thing that destabilized her was emotional upheaval, and Mercury was not as good as Venus at the childish taunting that was so effective at getting under Sailor Jupiter's skin.

Mercury, of course, had thought about this all very carefully in advance and had devised a strategy she thought would be suitable. It was, of course, impossible to get rid of Jupiter's power, so she'd have to slow her down. Dramatically. Like stop her entirely, maybe. Fortunately for Sailor Mercury, powers over water also meant powers over ice.

Which was why Sailor Jupiter suddenly found her feet encased in two large, solid blocks of ice. They were so heavy that she struggled to lift her feet. Mercury took this opportunity to build the blocks of ice up further. They crystallized up Jupiter's calves, encased her knees, her thighs – by now Jupiter was freezing cold, her face turning an unbecoming shade of blue. Mercury frowned, a little concerned for her friend. But she hadn't given up yet, so she must need some more convincing that she was at her limit, Sailor Mercury reasoned. The ice continued to climb up Jupiter's body, her groin and lower torso getting encased until –

A huge bolt of lightning descended from the sky, smashing against the ice and breaking it apart entirely. Jupiter immediately leapt away from the shards of ice, desperate to get away from the cold.

That was patently unfair, Mercury thought. She had no idea she could do that. The last time Jupiter had tried such a stunt, she had electrocuted herself. This was a memory that Sailor Mercury tried her very best to forget, but never could.

Her musings were interrupted by a very alive and vitality-filled Sailor Jupiter, who had leapt up about ten feet in the air and was preparing a very painful-looking attack.

"Sparkling…Wide...Pressure!" The ball of electricity came flying at her with alarming speed. Mercury jumped out of the way, but the attack still caught her in the legs, sending her completely off-balance and into a face-full of dirt. Quickly spitting out a mouthful of dirt she scrambled back to her feet, narrowly avoiding another Sparkling Wide Pressure.

Time for another strategy. "Shabon Spray!" The area filled with fog. She quickly moved to another area, letting her goggles slide over her eyes as she did so.

"Dammit, Sailor Mercury, we can't referee if we can't see anything!" Minako complained. Sailor Mercury paid her no heed. Instead, she was watching with great amusement as Jupiter desperately looked in every direction, as it she could see through the fog with sheer will-power. Jupiter eventually decided on a direction, the complete opposite from where Mercury was standing, and sent a Supreme Thunder Dragon out.

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" she cried out. The column of water hurtled towards Sailor Jupiter, who only had time to turn around before she took the hit full on, getting blasted backwards. With a loud thump and a pained groan Jupiter smashed into the trees, the impact so hard that the edges of her vision darkened a little before some vigorous blinking cleared them up. She was still on the ground and the fog had begun to clear and there was Sailor Mercury, about to unleash some new, even more painful attack on her. There was no way in hell that Sailor Jupiter was going to allow that. With a grunt of exertion Jupiter suddenly surged forward, catching Mercury right in the solar plexus with her fist. Mercury gasped and bent over, hands clutched protectively around her stomach, allowing Jupiter to catch her in a clinch. She tried to repeat that same move she had used on one of the boys a few days earlier, a knee rising to smash into Mercury's face, but Mercury was fast, and managed to raise her hands to push down against Jupiter's knee.

And to Sailor Jupiter's surprise, she suddenly found her knee completely encased in ice. Shivering from the cold she looked at Sailor Mercury with some astonishment. The other girl was smiling smugly, of all things, her eyes shining.

Sailor Mercury was indeed quite proud of herself, the feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration rushing through her. She had spent some time thinking of new attacks she could perform. The thought occurred to her that it took such a long time to build up the ice encasing she had earlier used because of distance. Perhaps direct contact would speed up the process. Conceptually, it made sense. Her trials with objects had worked, but she hadn't had a chance to use it against an actual person –

Until now! She wrapped her arms around Sailor Jupiter, drawing their bodies close together. Sailor Jupiter, quickly catching on to this new form of attack as frost quickly spread across her back, squirmed out of her grasp and leapt backward, impeded considerably by her knee. It impeded her so much, in fact, that it gave Sailor Mercury time to send another Aqua Rhapsody blasting towards her. This time, Jupiter avoided the full impact, but there was still enough power that again she found herself smacking against the trees. In the moment it took her to recover her bearings, she found that the ice had moved down to encase the rest of her lower leg.

Unacceptable. She had already lost once in this round of battles. She absolutely refused to lose again. With a surge of willpower she lifted her leg up and kicked the block of ice against the tree, the ice shattering upon impact.

Jupiter was definitely not supposed to be able to do that, Mercury mused. And that furious, determined expression on Sailor Jupiter's face as she rushed towards her did not bode well. Her prediction was realized soon afterwards as she was kicked in the stomach. She went reeling backwards, but Jupiter was not about to let up. Mercury's head snapped backwards as she received a straight punch to the face, and a mid-kick to the side of her stomach caught her painfully in the liver. It was a good thing she was a Senshi, Mercury thought, or she would have passed out three times by now. Jupiter continued to lay on the physical attacks, throwing an elbow at her face that resulted in her nose starting to bleed _again_, and finally Jupiter decided to have mercy, taking Mercury down with a hip throw. The blows had been painful, but Sailor Mercury still had her wits about her. She wrestled against Jupiter's determined attempts to get her pinned, squirming to avoid locks.

But the end result was practically pre-determined. Sailor Mercury ended up pinned, Sailor Jupiter's weight heavy on her lower abdomen, legs on either side of her own, bare thighs brushing against bare thighs, Sailor Jupiter's heavy breathing quite audible at such a close distance. After that kind of thrashing, Mercury could barely think through the pain, and yet –

Artemis' voice resounded in her head as she remembered his words: "You know what they say about sex and violence."

_Clifford B. Saper, Nature 470: "In mice, brain neurons that respond during either mating or aggression exhibit spatial overlap, and some even respond during both."_

Physiological analysis of female subject, 18 years of age, nulliparous: Vasocongestion, increase in heart rate, increase in breathing rate, stiffening of nipples, inability to think about anything but the feeling of skin against skin, surging desire

Abort abort abort

With a heretofore unknown strength Sailor Mercury pushed Sailor Jupiter off of her and pinned her wrists above her head. Now she was straddling Jupiter's waist, the flushing, grinning girl with bright eyes breathing heavily underneath her.

This wasn't any better, Mercury realized, scrambling to her feet.

She cleared her throat. "I give. I'm completely exhausted. Why don't we declare this one a win for you," she suggested, offering her hand to Jupiter, who was now sitting up. Sailor Jupiter grabbed her hand and pulled herself up.

After she got to her feet, she brushed the back of her skirt, lifting it just a bit higher, exposing just that much more skin…Sailor Mercury averted her eyes. "Good fight, Ami-chan." In a flash of light the sailor fuku stripped off of Sailor Jupiter, replaced by casual clothes that took a moment to settle around Makoto's form. Ami followed suit.

"Sorry about the bit at the end though," Makoto continued, scratching the back of head in embarrassment. "Hey, what do you guys think of a sleepover at my place? We'll have a little party to celebrate the first round of sparring."

Minako pumped her fist in the air. "Yeah, party! Sounds great! I'll call up Usagi, too."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Rei cautioned. "She's at Mamoru's place and she's determined to…let's say…make tonight the night."

Minako goggled. "Are you kidding me? You don't think Mamoru's actually going to give in, do you?"

Rei laughed. "Yeah, right. Not Mamoru. He's won the Gentleman of the Year Award for four years straight, and I don't think he's going to give up the title anytime soon."

"If he doesn't give in soon, Usagi's probably going to kill someone," Minako mused. "I wonder how she's planning to go about it. A cute, lacy teddy? Some Barry Manilow tunes?"

"Ugh, _please_, Mina-chan, just stop."

X

An hour later and the four were at Makoto's place, having stopped by their houses to pick up pajamas and toothbrushes. They had settled in to watch a movie – _300_, which they had already seen five times. Oiled up men with airbrushed abs and huge swords pranced across the flatscreen TV.

"This is blasphemy. This is madness!" cried the poor, doomed Persian messenger, his voice sounding tinny when filtered through Makoto's cheap speaker set.

"Madness?" the girls chorused along with King Leonidas. A long silence followed as the King exchanged a look with the Queen, who very subtly nodded in approval. And then: "This! Is! SPARTA!" And as the messenger fell backwards into the pit, Rei's cellphone rang. She sent an apologetic look to the others girls, holding up her phone so that the caller ID was visible.

ODANGO ATAMA

Makoto turned down the volume on the television.

"Usagi?" Rei answered.

"REI-CHANNNNN!" Rei winced and pulled the phone a distance away from her ear. The other girls stifled their laughter. "Waaaaah! You'll never believe what happened!"

Rei gave a longsuffering sigh. "What happened, Usagi-chan?"

"So we were in bed –"

"Ah, Usagi, wait –"

"And we were _so close_ –"

"Usagi –"

"And then I realized that I got my period!"

It was too much. The other girls burst into laughter.

"Ah, Rei! Who's that with you?"

Rei sighed again. "I've been trying to tell you, Usagi! The other girls are here, we're at Makoto's."

A moment of silence. The girls exchanged uneasy glances. Maybe they shouldn't have laughed.

"Well, whatever," Usagi finally said. "So anyway then Mamo-chan said, 'Oh, it's a good thing this happened! I think we were about to go a little too far, Usako.' And now he's out buying tampons."

Minako gestured for the phone. Wordlessly, Rei handed it over. "Usagi-chan! Really, you got surprised by your period? How many years have you been getting it for? I happen to know you've been regular since you were at least fourteen years old. You've got to plan these things out carefully."

"But I was looking forward to it so much…I wasn't really thinking." Obviously.

This time Ami gestured for the phone. She was blushing horribly but that wouldn't stop her from trying to help her friend. "Ah, you know, Usagi-chan, it's possible to engage in intercourse while menstruating."

The other girls gaped at her, looking at her like she had grown a second head. What were they so surprised about? It was totally possible and there was the added bonus of extra lubrication.

"With the creative use of a few towels –" she continued.

"Ami-chan," Minako interrupted, "Where are you getting this from? One of your erotica books?"

It was hardly possibly for Ami to get even redder but she managed it. "How did you know?"

Minako chortled. "I didn't before, but now I do!"

"Minako!" She gave the phone back to her, but Minako was laughing too hard to actually talk, so the phone ended up in Makoto's hands.

"Look, Usagi-chan, do you want to come over? I've got an extra set of pajamas." They would be three sizes too big for her, but pajamas were pajamas.

On the other end, Usagi sighed. "Now that I'm here I might as well stay over. Oh, but if my parents call, I'm at your place, okay?"

With an affirmative Makoto hung up and handed the phone back to Rei. And then she turned to give Ami an odd look. Ami was staring at the floor, like she hoped that a Spartan king would kick her into a bottomless pit. That Minako, Makoto thought. It would probably be days before Ami could meet any of their eyes again. She had to find some way to fix it, even if it meant embarrassing herself.

"Hey, Ami-chan," Makoto said, feeling her own face start to flush, "If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could lend me a couple of those books?"

Now it was her turn to receive odd looks. "What?" Ami asked, as if she had not heard her properly.

"Ah, well, you know. I've been thinking that I don't really read enough. Maybe if the material were more compelling…"

Minako coughed, trying to cover up her laughter and failing miserably at dong so. Eventually she devolved into giggles. "Compelling, huh?"

Unable to help themselves, Rei and Makoto exchanged merry grins and likewise fell into a fit of giggles, and finally Ami gave in and joined them.

"Thick, hot members sure are compelling!"

"Heaving bosoms? Definitely compelling!"

X

The night had continued in much the same vein, the girls all making fun of various typical romance novel lines. Then they had finished watching _300_, and had headed to bed, futons rolled out in Makoto's bedroom. After a bit more gossiping they settled in for the night, and soon soft breathing filled the room as the girls slipped into sleep. Subconsciously, they had all expected the night to be like all their other "new normal" nights – uninterrupted and blissfully restful.

And for three of them, it proved to be so.

The red numbers on Makoto's radio-alarm clock glowed: 3:02. Right as the minute increased by one, Ami suddenly woke up with a surprised gasp.

Slowly, incredulously, she sat up, and warily stole a glance at the only girl lying on an actual bed. Feeling her face heat up she decided a glass of cold water would help. Her bare feet padded softly against the hardwood floors as she made her way to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, and filled it up. She downed the whole thing in one gulp, and then set it down on the counter. She leaned her elbows on the counter and buried her face in her hands, and stifled a groan of frustration

After much questioning from her mother, an eleven-year-old Ami had finally broken down and had told the older Mizuno what had been bothering her for weeks on end. She had had a dream, a very vivid, very embarrassing, and rather disturbing dream. Said dream featured two cousins she frequently visited, who lived close to the ocean.

Her mother had assured her that everything was fine. Indeed, she should consider the dream a "good dream", and if she was lucky, her mother told her, she would have many more such "good dreams".

She had not been lucky. She got her second wet dream after she had received her first love letter. No doubt the dream had been a product of her overactive pre-teen imagination.

And here she was, eighteen years old and having just had only her third ever wet dream. She sat down at the kitchen table and pressed her thighs together, squirming a bit. To her own horror she found herself seeking friction from the chair, her hips moving almost against her will. She gasped lightly. This only made it worse. If only she could take a cold shower, but the sound of water hitting the tiles would undoubtedly wake the others up.

Speaking of shower…

She felt her inner walls tighten as she remembered the dream. The images that flashed through her mind were unstoppable, and the more she dwelled on them the more erratic her breathing became, until she had to give a shuddering gasp in a bid for air. She had never in her whole entire life felt so desperate, not even when she teased herself in the bathtub while reading porn novels. Her entire body felt like it was thrumming, every nerve ending turning suddenly sensitive. She bit back a moan as she felt her stiffening nipples rub against the silk fabric of her camisole, the peaks jutting out visibly. With deep embarrassment she reached up and pinched her nipples. Ahh! It felt so good. Her breathing grew heavier as she let her right hand trail down her front, heading towards her shorts –

She suddenly stood up. She could not get the relief she needed. She just couldn't. Not here, with all the others sleeping in a room just meters away from where she was now. Not in this apartment, at all! This was the apartment, after all, in which Makoto lived. The girl who had starred in her most vivid dream ever.

But she was so frustrated! Even if this was _her_ apartment, even if _she_ was lying in bed asleep just a few meters away, Ami had to do something or she would…she would…well she wasn't sure what she'd do, but the only thing she could think of was the desperation that surged within her. She eyed the dark living room and the couch off to the side, which they had all crowded onto earlier. With determined steps she entered the living room and then stretched her body out on the couch. Gulping, she reached into her underwear and gasped in shock at just how wet she was. Her fingers entered easily, her thumb slipped over her clit, and with a quick, furious strokes she came, softly gasping out the name of a brown-haired girl with sparkling eyes.

X

Ami woke up as the door to Makoto's apartment swung open. She sat, up, groggy, and rubbed her eyes free of the gunk that had accumulated overnight. Then she blinked and inspected the person who had opened the door. Her luck continued unabated. Makoto, her still half-asleep mind dimly thought, but it quickly shifted into wakefulness as she took in what the other girl was wearing. She wore short shorts that skimmed the curve of her butt all too closely and a long-sleeve fitted shirt to ward against the cold. She had accessorized with an adorably dorky headband and atrocious neon green running shoes.

"Ah, Ami-chan! Sorry, did I wake you?" And then to Ami's further dismay, Makoto whipped off her shirt, leaving her standing in just a black sports bra, her cut abs standing out, no airbrushing needed. Ami felt her mouth dry. Makoto kicked off her shoes, leaving them in the hallway as she stepped into the apartment proper. "I didn't want to leave you sleeping on the couch, but you looked so comfortable."

Ami rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the crick forming from her night spent on the hard-as-rocks furniture. Makoto noticed and approached her, batting her hands away. "Allow me," she said, placing her hands on Ami's neck and rubbing. Ami leapt off the couch like someone had lit a fire under her.

"Ahh, no, I'm alright, really!" she said, laughing nervously. Makoto sent her a confused look. Ami responded with what she hoped was a cool and easy smile. "Hahahaha, just…yeah," she finished lamely. This statement obviously did not clear up any of Makoto's confusion, and the concerned frown on her face was such an adorable expression that Ami was forced to look away before she did or said something stupid.

"Ahem. Are you going to take a shower? I'll get breakfast started, then," Ami offered.

"Ami-chan…are you sure you're alright?" Makoto asked. Ami suddenly realized that she was not in the habit of steadfastly staring at walls when one of her friends was speaking to her. It probably raised some suspicion. So she slowly and carefully turned back to face Makoto, made eye contact, tried to hold it, and failed miserably. She looked up at the ceiling. Makoto followed her gaze and, seeing nothing amiss, shot yet another confused look at Ami. Ami caught her gaze again and then quickly looked away.

Makoto smiled and shook her head, and then looked back up at the ceiling. "My dear mother," she said, "If there's a heaven then I'm sure you're in it. Ami-chan seems kind of out of it today, so while you're up there, please look after her. Thanks. With love, your only daughter Makoto."

Ami's jaw dropped open as she made this astounding supplication, and she felt a blush sear across her cheeks as Makoto finished the speech with a saucy wink at her.

Ami's internal dialogue never stopped, but the only words she could think of now were:

I am in so much trouble.

* * *

><p>AN2: The Senshi are so over-the-top themselves that I think they would have to love <em>300<em>.

Weirdly enough I've made several attempts at writing a story about these two and one of them always ends up masturbating. Is this my own prurience, or is there just something about them?

Finally: I said this would be a story in three parts, but it's actually going to have four!


	3. Always and Forever Your Ally

AN1: **Neanda**, thanks for answering my question, I guess it really is just me! I've learned something new. Also, I took your advice regarding the categories. **Gear001**, unfortunately, no more of that. It's all sappiness here on out! Sappiness and coarse language.

* * *

><p><strong>Part III: Always and Forever Your Ally<strong>

Ami carefully analyzed what had happened that night at Makoto's apartment. Her total loss of restraint had been embarrassing and a little shocking. She naturally tended towards strict self-discipline. The things that troubled the other girls, such as sitting still to study, came easily to her. But when it came to bodily desires, well. Clearly, her self-discipline in that area was under-exercised.

Or maybe a demon had taken her over. A demon had possessed her and had brought her to the depths of hell, tormenting her with the flames of passion.

That demon was called lust.

A lust demon. Definitely the more reasonable explanation, she decided. Or at least she tried to convince herself that it was.

But really: Who wouldn't feel at least a little lustful when they laid eyes on her?

Ami eyed the girl sitting across the table from her. Makoto wore a shapeless green hoodie and dark blue jeans. It was an outfit that stood out in not a single way and showed off none of her body. And yet to Ami she looked so unbelievable attractive that a single thought kept flitting through her mind: I wish I could jump her, right now. But of course, that would be highly inappropriate.

They were once again in Rei's room at the Hikawa Jinja, though this time not to make plans for sparring. This time they were buckling down to study. Entrance exams for universities and vocational schools were coming up soon. The girls had actually kept up reasonable study habits throughout the school year, but the exams were notoriously difficult, and they couldn't let up. Everyone was focusing hard on their materials in front of them, trying to shore up their weak areas.

For Makoto this meant English. She frowned in concentration as she stared at the grammar book in front of her. Frequently she would whisper some words under her breath, trying to shape her mouth around the difficult foreign syllables. Strawberry. Whipped cream. Succotash. At this last one she raised an eyebrow and flipped to the back of the book to look up the definition. One of her fingers trailed down the page until she found the word, blunt nail stopping just underneath.

As she leaned over to read the extremely small print, some hair started to slip from her ponytail, falling down to hang loosely behind her ears. The newly-freed strands of hair reflected the sun shining in from the window, highlighting its wavy texture. It looked so beautiful and soft and Ami suddenly felt the urge to touch it. She clenched her hands into fists.

Then she heard slight movement from beside her. She looked down and noticed that a piece of paper, ripped off from the corner of a lined page, had materialized on top of her book. Bold, elegant strokes filled the paper, Rei's unmistakable hand writing. Her eyes quickly skimmed the words, and she felt her face heat up as she did so.

STARE ANY HARDER AND YOUR EYES WILL FALL OUT

She hastily picked the paper up and ripped it up into tiny little shreds, the tearing sound grabbing everyone's attention.

"What's wrong, Ami-chan?" Usagi asked.

"Nothing at all!" Her voice was pitched a little too high to match her answer, but before anyone could inquire further, Usagi's stomach let out a loud growl. Ami looked at the clock on the bedside table. Six in the evening.

"I think it's time for us to head home," Makoto said, sending a lopsided smile at Usagi, who blushed as her stomach continued to growl furiously. "Some of us need to get food in our stomachs, ASAP!"

"Alright, have a good evening then, ladies," Rei said, watching as the others packed up their materials. "Ami, could you stay for a little while longer? I wanted to talk to you about Todai."

Since they were the only two who were aiming so high, the other girls took their leave, leaving Rei and Ami alone. She shifted a bit to face to the girl sitting beside her, and with a sinking feeling she realized that they would not be talking about university. Her fears were confirmed a moment later.

"I don't actually want to talk about Tokyo U," Rei said.

"I didn't think so," Ami replied.

"So? What was with the staring? Is it what I think it is?"

"It might be." Ami looked away for a moment, blushing hard. It felt like she had blushed more in the past month than she had in her whole entire life. Then she shifted her gaze back to Rei, and took in the miko robes that Rei was draped in. "Do you think any less of me?"

Rei frowned. "I'm almost offended that you'd ask that! And whenever you get around to telling Usagi and Minako, don't even think about asking them that, either. Minako's the self-proclaimed goddess of love and Usagi is…Usagi."

A weight that Ami didn't know she had been carrying suddenly lifted off of her. She could easily handle any remarks that strangers would make. She could brush off glares and strange looks. But she knew herself well enough to know that the approval of her friends, her first and best friends, meant everything to her.

"Thank you," she said, softly, and Rei gave her a beaming smile. "Then, perhaps you could help me figure something out. I certainly feel…strong physical desire." Great. She was blushing _again_.

"But…" Rei prompted.

Ami took up the prompt. "But I'm not sure if…um…Rei-chan, what's it like to be in love?"

Rei leant back, letting her hands support her weight, and sighed. "I really couldn't tell you, Ami-chan. I do have a suggestion for you though. I'd like you to observe and talk to our two favorite couples and see if you can't figure something out. Think of it as a homework assignment!"

Ami smiled and nodded.

X

When she found herself in Usagi's proximity, she vigorously complained about having nothing to do for the rest of the day. And that was how she found herself as the third wheel on one of Mamoru and Usagi's dates. But they had known each other for so long, that she hardly felt left out. She was a quiet girl, anyway, and was more than happy to stay out of the way and observe.

As a reward for her diligent weeks of studying, Mamoru took Usagi out skating. Their little group had gone skating so many times over the years, but Usagi was still terrible at it. Most people, when skating, fell onto their butts if they fell at all. Usagi managed to keep falling flat on her face. It looked rather painful and her face was starting to get alarmingly red.

Makoto was so graceful when she skated, Ami thought, remembering the beautiful axels and salchows she had pulled off the first time they had all gone skating together.

Focus! Focus. She watched as Usagi fell yet again and Mamoru, with a resigned sigh, reached down to lift her up. A thought suddenly occurred to Ami. Their princess was clumsy, but really, you could only go skating so many times without learning to stay on your feet. Maybe Usagi kept falling _on purpose_! The adoring smile the blonde girl sent at Mamoru convinced Ami of this. Was this love, then? Falling so that your loved one would keep picking you up? No, Ami thought. Love was what Mamoru did, when he kept picking her up time after time.

She was so engrossed in thought that she didn't notice that Mamoru had skated right up beside her. She jumped when she heard her name and slipped, but managed to stay upright with Mamoru holding on to her shoulders.

He chuckled. "You alright there? You seem kind of out of it."

"Ah, Mamoru-san. Where did Usagi go?"

"Ladies' room," he replied.

The two skated side by side in companionable silence for a while. She and Mamoru were two of a kind, sharing a deep understanding while not having to say anything at all. And so Mamoru knew to wait patiently until Ami was ready to say something, and when she finally did, her words did not surprise him.

"How did you realize that you were in love with Usagi?" she asked, sliding to a stop. Mamoru stopped beside her, leaning against the boards to rest his legs a bit. He considered her question for a moment.

"It's when I realized that she made me a better person." He shook his head. "No, that's the wrong way to put it. It's when I realized that she makes me want to be a better person. And I know she loves me back, because she helps me do just that."

Their conversation came to a halt as they heard a familiar refrain in the distance. "Mamo-channnnn…." Usagi's figure grew closer as she came barreling towards the pair, arms outstretched in the most awkward skating style Ami had ever seen.

"I also know she loves me because she does this kind of thing," Mamoru said, panic filling his eyes. But he was grinning at the same time, as he quickly skated away, but not without first taunting his girlfriend. "You'll never catch me!" he hollered, and he was meters away when Usagi finally reached Ami, crashing into the boards beside her. Ami quickly caught her, spun her so that she faced Mamoru's direction, and gave her a hard shove. With the speed boost Usagi crashed right into Mamoru, and the two fell laughing onto the ice.

_Mizuno Ami's Observation Notebook. _

_Upon meeting with Tsukino Usagi, Chiba Mamoru's arrogance declines by approximately 20%. _

_Over the course of two hours spent skating with Tsukino Usagi, Chiba Mamoru's rate of laughter was about 40% higher than in a two-hour span spent without her presence._

_Qualitative observation. Chiba Mamoru was wearing that awful sweater Tsukino Usagi got him for Christmas._

X

Ami's hands tightened around the notebook she was holding as the Kawasaki motorcycle she was watching flew upwards from a hill. It seemed to hang in the air for far longer than it should have before it landed on the dirt track with a spray of mud, and then it was off again, trying to gain ground on the flat part of the track. A blue panel was affixed to the back, with a number on it written in white: 7.

Because, of course, Uranus was the seventh planet from the Sun. No points for originality there, though what did it matter? Haruka was way out in front of the rest of the competitors as she began the last lap. She was going fast, but she wasn't quite on pace for the record time. The record time was already hers, anyway.

This wasn't quite a date, but Ami wouldn't have felt quite comfortable being a third wheel when Haruka and Michiru were in one of their romantic moods. So she had opted for the next best thing. She and the girls had run into the older Senshi at the mall. Ami brought up a local motocross event. Haruka had noted that she was participating in it and had issued a broad invitation to all the girls. Ami had banned them from attending, since exams were coming up.

But she was more than ready for the exams, and so she had given herself permission to attend. Michiru was sitting next to her, far up in the stands away from the possibility of getting splattered by mud. Michiru was watching the racetrack intently, a look of concentration on her eyes. Ami flirted briefly with the idea that Michiru was casting a curse on the other racers, but it wasn't like Michiru could really do that. Anyway, even if she could, she wouldn't actually.

…Right?

She, too, turned her focus on the race, to see if she could find out what Michiru was looking at so intently. Same old motocross, though now that they were in their final lap, the crashes got more numerous as the racers tried to go even faster. Haruka had a close call, wobbling dangerously on a jump, but she landed fine and continued leading the pack.

Ami quickly glanced at Michiru, and now she knew what the other woman had been looking at so intently. The worry in her eyes was obvious. And yet in the whole time that Ami had known the two, she had never heard Michiru utter a word against Haruka participating in ridiculously dangerous sports. Racecar driving, motocross…Ami knew the statistics well, having researched it before coming to the day's race.

This was love, then.

"Michiru-san," Ami said, and Michiru briefly glanced at her before letting her eyes drift back to the race.

"Yes, Ami-chan?"

"Um, I have a question for you," she said, the hesitation obvious in her voice. She had picked her targets carefully, of course. She could have asked Usagi and Haruka, but they were so radically different from her that it might not have been helpful. So she had opted to ask Mamoru and Michiru instead. Unfortunately, Michiru somehow seemed so much more intimidating than her partner. Even after all these years, she still had that aura of perfection.

Michiru was now looking at her intently, an eyebrow raised in expectation. Ami cleared her throat. "I hope it's not too personal of a question but, um, I was wondering…H-how did you realize you were in love with Haruka?"

To her surprise Michiru actually blushed. Very lightly, and for just a moment, a reddish hue rose to her cheeks. "I had a crush on her for a long time. And when I realized she was a fellow Senshi, I didn't want it to be her, but at the same time, I was so very happy that it was her. That's when I knew for sure that I loved her. And then…I knew for sure that she loved me when, even after all my warnings, even after seeing my struggles, she picked up the Henshin stick."

Ami sat frozen in place, unable to comment. Michiru let out a light laugh.

"I'm sorry. I know it's a little intense. Ah! She crossed the finish line. Let's go congratulate her, hmm?"

The two made their way down the stands to the track. It looked like Michiru didn't care too much about the mud, after all, for when she reached Haruka the two embraced tightly, Haruka's tracksuit smudging dirt all over Michiru's once-beautiful blue dress.

_Mizuno Ami's Observation Notebook._

_About 80% of conversations between Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru seem to have a double-meaning, the underlying meaning being evident only to each other._

_Upon meeting with Kaioh Michiru, Tenoh Haruka's bravado decreases by approximately 10%._

_Qualitative observation. Kaioh Michiru smiled immediately upon mention of Tenoh Haruka's name. _

X

Minako had convinced Ami to give her extra tutoring in math. Minako's marks weren't as poor as they had been at one point in her storied scholastic career, but she was still no Euler. Tutoring sessions with Minako were always long and involved, partly because her focus drifted so often, partly because she was the type who preferred to get things over with in one go. So when Minako let a huge pile of textbooks and paper fall onto the kitchen table, Ami resigned herself to a long night.

"I'll prepare some tea," she said, scanning the cupboard for the most caffeine-heavy tea leaves she could find. "Will you please get my math notebook from my backpack? It's in the living room."

"Will do!" Minako left the kitchen. Ami grabbed a kettle and set the water boiling. It quickly began bubbling and she slowly poured the water over the strainer holding the tea leaves. When she had set saucers and cups on the kitchen table it occurred to her that Minako was taking an awfully long time to grab a notebook. She made her way to the living room. Minako was standing over her backpack, holding a notebook open. As Ami got closer she noticed that what Minako was holding was definitely _not_ her math notebook.

"Mina-chan! _What_ are you doing?"

"I'm sorry!" Minako said, dropping the notebook as she jumped in surprise. "I thought this was your math notebook! Then I read a few lines and…there's still numbers in it but I don't think they're related to math."

"Certainly not!" Ami bent down to pick the notebook up. It had plain blue covers and was spiral-bound, a totally average notebook. There was, Ami admitted, no way for Minako to know it was private. She stood up and faced the other girl, who was biting her lip in an attempt to hold back on whatever it was she wanted to say. Ami sighed.

"Okay, go ahead and ask," she said. Minako let out an ear-splitting squeal, grabbing Ami's hands. The notebook once again fell to the floor as Minako pulled Ami towards the kitchen and excitedly sat her down on one chair, Minako taking the one directly beside her.

"Tell me everything! Why do you have an observation diary about love?"

Ami had not only put her observations about Mamoru, Usagi, Michiru and Haruka in it, but had also analyzed song lyrics, took notes on the words of various philosophers, and cut out pictures from magazines of couples who plausibly looked like they were in love.

"It's not a diary," she said, a little irritated, but Minako waved her complaint away.

"Observation notebook, whatever. Have you got your eye on someone?"

Ami sighed yet again. The direct approach was the best approach with Minako, she decided. Otherwise her words could be grossly misinterpreted. She felt a blush rise to her face. If only she could figure out some way to voluntarily regulate blood vessel dilation. She'd probably get a Nobel Prize for that.

"I am in lust with a person," she said, "But it is proving more difficult to figure out if I am also in love with this person."

"This person? Who is 'this person'?"

Ami mumbled a response.

"Enunciation, Ami-chan!"

"It's Makoto!" she said, enunciating very clearly this time. Minako gasped and proceeded to squeal at a pitch that only those under twenty, whose ears were still basically pristine, could hear. Ami winced. Well _now_ she probably had ear damage.

"I can't believe it! I knew it! Well I didn't actually _know_ it. But I suspected it! Sort of! You guys would be so cute together!"

"Thank you for your support, Minako-chan," Ami said, quite earnestly. "So, um, now that you know about it…do you have any suggestions for me?"

"I bet that Observation Diary was Rei's idea!" Right on the money. "But she probably didn't tell you what to do with it once you got all the info! You've got to get out there, observe your own reactions, and compare it against the data you've collected. Haha, guess all that studying is useful for something!"

Ami looked at Minako with a little astonishment. It was true that she had been sitting on the notebook, doing nothing about it, for quite a while already. She had spent a lot of time thinking about what she had observed, but actually taking action had not occurred to her.

"Don't worry, Ami-chan," Minako said. "The Goddess of Love will take care of everything!" And with that, she gathered her things and left.

"Wait, Mina-chan! What about –"

The front door slammed shut.

"-studying?"

X

It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the Crown Fruit Parlour was bustling with the students who descended on the little store every day after school. The students were mostly girls, who took special delight in the sickeningly sweet desserts that the place served up. A few boys were also there, most of them dragged there by their girlfriends, or by girls who they hoped would become their girlfriends.

All the booths were filled to the brim, the Parlour at capacity. The servers were bustling to keep up with the orders, walking quickly back and forth between the floor and the kitchen, their hollers to the chefs barely heard over the din of the students.

Only one booth wasn't filled up. There, a lone girl sat, sipping dejectedly on a milkshake. It was too bad that Unazuki wasn't around. She could use some company – any company. She glanced up at the clock once again. It was now four ten. Her friends were supposed to have met her there forty minutes ago! She checked her cellphone, but they hadn't even sent her a text message. Maybe…maybe there had been a youma attack? She tossed ten thousand yen onto the table and hurriedly made her way to the exit.

She was worried about her friends, of course, but she wasn't going to deny that there was an ulterior motive. With their exams coming up they hadn't sparred in quite a while. If a monster had attacked, Sailor Mercury was not going to miss the fight.

She pushed the door open and walked right into Makoto.

She fell, hissing in pain as her behind met the concrete sidewalk.

"Oh my gosh! Ami-chan, I'm so sorry!" Taking the hand that Makoto offered, Ami pulled herself to her feet, and brushed the back of her skirt. "And I'm so sorry I'm late, too!"

"What happened?" Ami asked.

"I ran into that jerk again!" Makoto sounded quite incensed. She had clenched her hands into fists, her arms tense and close to her body. "But you'd be proud of me, Ami-chan! We were still in the school building so I didn't touch that moron. Instead I let him go on and on and it turns out that there was still a teacher just around the bend. She heard everything and now he's suspended for a month!" She smiled broadly and Ami couldn't help but smile back.

"Well that explains why you're late," Ami said. "What about the others?"

Instead of heading back into the Crown Parlour the two decided to head to the shopping district. Makoto explained the absence of the other three as they walked. Usagi and Minako had acted up again in class, this time with a list of hottest boys at Juuban Municipal High. It had apparently sent the school into an uproar, something Ami had not even noticed. She really had been distracted lately. As for Rei, she had called Makoto and told her that her grandfather had caught a bad cold, so she would have to stay at home.

"So I guess it's just you and me," Makoto concluded.

_Just you and me_. Ami loved all her friends, but the idea of having alone time with Makoto appealed greatly to her. She'd have to thank Minako later.

They decided to head to the bookstore first. Makoto had gotten wise over the years spent being Ami's friends, and had quickly grabbed a couple of new _tankobon_ before Ami began to drag them all over the bookstore. She idly flipped through one of the manga volumes as Ami perused various shelves, grabbing books of all sorts, discarding few along the way, maintaining about ten in her arms at all times.

Ami stopped in front of a display of new non-fiction books, including an autobiography of a doctor who had gone around the world with an aid agency, saving lives under hails of bullets and in the midst of natural disasters. It was light reading, she thought, glancing at the price, she'd be spoiling herself, and it was still only in a hardcover edition. She decided she'd borrow it from the library, if she ever got around to it.

They left the store, Makoto carrying five of the books Ami had bought in her backpack, since Ami had insisted on carrying at least half of them. Their next destination would have been a clothing store, but they had the misfortune to run into "that jerk", as Makoto called him.

"If it isn't the giant and her girlfriend," he said, smirking. But his eyes seemed cold and distant, an unsettling combination. When it came to enemies, Ami preferred those with emotions than those who seemed like they could slit a baby's throat and not think a thing of it.

"If it isn't the idiot who got himself suspended," Makoto replied. Her expression was grim and Ami could feel the tension rolling off her body. She was clearly ready to pounce at this guy if he provoked her too far.

He ignored her barb entirely. "You know how I know you're a dyke? You've never had a single boyfriend, and you spend all your time around those girls! I bet it's like a dream come true for you."

Makoto's feet shifted slightly. Ami laid a hand on her arm. "Mako-chan. Don't."

"I see! You're like a rabid dog and you've got your masters holding you back."

The growling that sounded deep in Makoto's throat did indeed sound a little hound-like. Nervously, Ami tightened her grip on the girl's arm. They were in a public place, at rush hour. Lots of people were milling about. If Makoto swung first, an assault charge would be a very real possibility, and though Ami hated to think this way, there were too many witnesses around.

"I can see why they'd treat you like their bitch, though. Not even another girl would have someone as manly as you for a girlfriend. Are you sure you're not one of those drag queens? Those boobs have got to be fake, your plastic surgeon probably put two balloons there and called it a day. You're built like a truck and you've got no taste to speak of. Ah, I get it! That's why you turned into a lesbian. No man would have you!"

"Shut the fuck up."

Makoto and the boy both looked at her with surprised expressions. Ami could hardly believe it herself. Obscenities so rarely came out of her mouth that the word had felt a little unfamiliar, but the more she repeated it in her mind, the more she liked it.

"Just shut the fuck up," she repeated, taking a step towards him, halfway shielding Makoto, as if her body could shield the other girl from his verbal barbs.

"Or what?" he asked.

"Or I'll kill you," she said, in a voice barely above a whisper, so low that he had to lean in to hear her properly. He leaned back and laughed.

"You? You're half my size! How are you going to do that?"

Ami took a few more steps forward and spoke in a very low voice, her eyes deadly serious.

"There's a reason I keep beating you on tests, you know. It's not because you're not smart. I know your IQ score. It's because you're a lazy, weak-willed, undisciplined lay-about who thinks he'll surf through life on his daddy's money. And I…well you could say I'm the exact opposite of that. While you're sleeping, I'll be thinking. And plotting. I'll be thinking about all the ways I can kill you, and I've got the discipline to actually go through with it. Don't drink anything ever again, you won't know if I've poisoned it. Don't close the door to any room you're in, you won't know if I've locked it from the outside. Don't start a car, you won't know if I've rigged it to explode. And don't ever, _ever_ go to sleep at night, or I'll break into your house and kill you the old-fashioned way. And do you really think they would ever find the body?"

The boy stood, looking frozen, before he shook his head. "Shit, Mizuno! I was just kidding. Haha! A joke. Kino-san, I actually think you're really awesome. Uh, I'll see you at school." And with that, he quickly took his leave, disappearing into the crowd.

"Ami-chan…"

Ami closed her eyes and let out a shuddering breath. She felt Makoto's arms circle around her, drawing her close. Then she felt the tears start slipping down her cheeks. She sniffed.

"Ami!" Ami turned in her arms and hid her face with the front of Makoto's shirt, but Makoto was going to have none of that. She carefully lifted her face until their eyes met. With the pads of her thumbs Makoto wiped the tears from under Ami's eyes, but they kept falling.

"I threatened to _kill someone_, Mako-chan! And the worst part is," she whispered, "I really meant it."

Her sobs grew stronger. Impulsively Makoto hugged her harder, and the two stood like that for long moments, Makoto uttering words of comfort, Ami's tears slowly abating.

"Poor Ami," Makoto said, running a hand through Ami's hair in a soothing motion. It worked as intended, and Ami finally calmed down enough to draw back a little, giving herself enough space to wipe away her final tears.

"Anyway, for what it's worth, thanks for defending my honor."

Ami felt Makoto's lips on her forehead, a soft, swift kiss that was over in a second. Ami's heart gave an almost audible thump. She felt something settle in her chest.

"Hey, you're shivering. Are you cold? Here, take my coat."

The heavy weight of Makoto's large coat settled around her shoulders. Her heartbeat grew stronger. It felt like it was pounding against her ribcage. She grabbed the edges of the coat and wrapped it closer around herself and she suddenly realized that this was the happiest she had ever been. Happier than when she had gotten published in a journal, happier than when Usagi had become her friend, happier than on rare visits to her dad, happier, even, than when they had gotten resurrected after that last battle.

She was happy, and it all just felt so…right.

"Let's get you home! Ah, you're crying again! Come on, Ami, please don't cry, it's okay. Don't cry…"

X

Before Makoto said her goodbyes, she gave Ami a book.

"Mako-chan? When did you get this?"

Makoto sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "Ah, I got it when you went to the washroom right before we left the store. And I mean…you were staring at it pretty hard! It was obvious you wanted it."

This sent her into another crying jag and it was another half hour before Makoto could finally take her leave. Ami entered her condo, her eyes rimmed red from all the crying. She heard noise in the kitchen, which meant that either a robber had gotten in or her mother was home. The probability of the latter was much higher than the former, so she peeked around the corner of the doorframe with no trepidation.

"Good evening, mother!" She softly padded into the kitchen, her socks shuffling against the linoleum flooring. Her mother, who was standing at the stove, frying an egg. It was rare, nowadays, to see her being so domestic. Usually they ordered in, the takeout boxes that filled up their recycling box a testament to their habits.

"Good evening, Ami-good gracious! Are you alright?" Her mother quickly turned the burner off and approached her.

"Ah, I'm fine, mother." Her red eyes must have tipped her mother off. "It's been a long day, but I'm alright now."

"I guess you don't want to tell your mother the whole story, huh?" Ami shook her head. Her mother shrugged. "Maybe one of these days you'll finally tell me all your secrets. You turned out to be far more mysterious than I could have imagined. Anyway, who was that I heard outside? Makoto?"

Ami found herself smiling. "Yeah, Mako-chan. Mom, I'm exhausted, I'm going to take a nap. I'm sorry we can't spend time together…"

Her mother sighed. "Ami, you're not the one who should ever be apologizing for that, okay? You get some sleep."

With that admonishment Ami walked to her room and threw herself onto the bed, not even bothering to change out of her clothes. Her eyelids felt so heavy, but before they closed completely, she noticed her observation notebook lying on the table beside her. She sat up on her bed, sitting cross-legged, grabbed the nearest pen, and began to scribble. A few minutes later she looked over what she had written, and nodded in satisfaction.

By this point she was so tired that she simply tossed it aside, resolving to put it away more neatly when she woke up. Her eyelids slid shut, and she off to dreamland.

The notebook had landed on the floor, open at its last page.

_Mizuno Ami's Observation Notebook_

_Upon meeting with Kino Makoto, Mizuno Ami's happiness increased by approximately 150%._

_Over the course of three hours spent with Kino Makoto, Mizuno Ami felt like she was in a dream 100% of the time._

_Qualitative observation. Although Kino Makoto got Mizuno Ami the book just to the left of the one she was actually looking at, Mizuno Ami will treasure it forever anyway._

_Conclusion: Mizuno Ami loves Kino Makoto._

* * *

><p>AN2: Final chapter will be up early on Friday. It's (relatively) short and sweet!<p>

I'd like to write a Haruka/Michiru fic one of these days, but they're just..too awesome.


	4. Lenses

AN1: Thank you, **Gear001 **and **Hobbes the Cat**! **TheKueken**, thank you! I'm a huge nerd so I've rather enjoyed writing Ami. It's a familiar way of thinking.

* * *

><p><strong>Part IV: Lenses<strong>

Now Ami knew. She was in love, and she wanted Makoto to be her girlfriend, and she wanted to be Makoto's girlfriend, and they really _would _make a cute couple, just like Minako had said.

The only problem now was: how was she going to get from A to B? A being a deep friendship, B being…more than that. A romantic relationship.

The straightforward option was, of course, confessing. She met with Rei and Minako and laid the idea out before them.

Positive Polly and Negative Nancy clashed.

"Yeah, you should definitely confess!"

"What if she rejects her?"

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"A very awkward friendship? She should try to see if she can figure out how Makoto feels about her, first, and _then_ confess."

"Waste of time! You can never tell for sure."

That seemed to convince Rei. "Hmm, true. Ami-chan! Go confess."

It turned out that deciding what to do was the easy part. Actually following through on the decision proved much harder. Even though she knew she should follow their advice, she couldn't help but throw out a few feelers. After exams they had a movie night to celebrate, and one of the movies in the line-up was none other than D.E.B.S.

"How would you guys feel if a girl confessed to you?" Ami asked, her tone ever-so-light. It didn't prevent Minako and Rei from glaring at her. They knew exactly what she was doing, and they were going to punish her for her cowardice, she knew.

"Hmm, I don't really know," Rei said, in an exaggerated tone. "What do you think, Mako-chan?"

"Yeah," Minako added, before Makoto had the chance to answer. "Imagine if a short, kind of bookish and shy girl, who likes chess and swimming, confessed to you."

Ami's eyes widened in panic. They were being too obvious!

But apparently, not obvious enough. "Well that's specific." Makoto smiled broadly and rubbed her chin with her hand, deep in consideration. "Let's see…well, to be honest, I think I'd have a hard time being with a girl, if only because, you know. The whole femininity thing, that I have trouble with some times," she said, awkwardly. She hurriedly continued: "But because of my own experience, I'd never reject feelings out of hand. I'd probably say yes to at least one date."

The other girls' jaws fell open at that answer. Ami felt quite a bit heartened by it, and she sent a grateful look to Minako and Rei.

"I understand, Mako-chan!" Usagi said. "If I wasn't dating Mamo-chan, I'd probably say yes to one date, too!"

That opened a whole other can of worms, allowing Ami to ignore the conversation and focus on what Makoto had just said. She had a chance, then.

So why was it so hard to just spit out the words?

x

"Rei-chan, have you felt anything strange lately?"

Rei and Makoto had been volunteered by the rest of the girls to go collect drinks and popcorn as the previews had started rolling. The line was much longer than expected. To Makoto, this was the perfect time to bring it up. Rei had a different opinion.

"Mako-chan," she said, glancing around, "This is not the place to talk about the supernatural."

"Come on, Rei-chan! Things have been feeling really _off_ lately, and I'm starting to get worried. Maybe I've gained psychic powers, too! Have you seen anything in the fire?"

Rei cast an amused look at her. "Mako-chan, I _really_ don't think you've developed psychic powers. Anyway, I hate to tell you this, but I haven't felt or seen a single thing. Everything's been peaceful. And we all hope it stays that way. Right?"

"Right," Makoto replied, but with a distinct lack of conviction. She shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't like the feeling pervaded her whole life, constantly nagging at her. It just nagged at her some of the time. Every once in a while she'd get that feeling – the feeling that something was wrong. Or not wrong, exactly, but…_different_.

"What could it be?" she wondered aloud. Rei ignored her, moving up to the counter to order.

X

Makoto paid no attention to the movie, though the other girls were enraptured. For them it was basically a perfect flick, heavy on both romance and action. Afterwards, Makoto would regret not having focused on the film, but at the moment, she was busy trying to sort out what was causing that strange feeling.

She concentrated hard and reviewed the moments that gave rise to the feeling.

There was that time she woke up in the hospital, only to see a very anxious-looking Ami, sitting quietly on a chair next to the bed. Then when she had to tell her that story about beating up those guys, and the looks Ami had sent her…she had expected shocked looks, but what she mostly got was flattered, if still a little reproving. Hmm?

And then there was that time they were sparring, when Makoto finally got Ami under her. That sounded wrong. Anyway, Ami had given her a _really_ strange look then. That was when Makoto had started feeling weird, and she had let that distract her enough that Ami managed to push her off.

Then when they were talking to Usagi and Ami had admitted to reading porn, and that had really set her heart racing, for some reason. And the morning after that, Ami kept blushing and couldn't even look at her in the eye!

So far all the moments had to do with Ami. There was something, then, about Ami, that was making Makoto feel strange. Something had to have changed. But what?

There was that study session, where it had been so hard to concentrate on learning English vocabulary, because Ami had her eyes on her the whole time! Ami was probably trying to make sure she stayed focused. Makoto appreciated that, but really, did it require constant surveillance?

Then Ami had hung out with their two favorite couples. Wasn't it weird to be a third wheel? Ami had started acting even more strangely after that, constantly writing in that notebook. Michiru and Haruka were obviously a bad influence on her. She had tried out their conversational style on Makoto, and Makoto had miserably failed to live up to expectations. Makoto recalled how the whole team had gone out one day, and Ami had chosen that moment to ask Makoto if she didn't think that the most beautiful rose was the one that stayed closed, no matter how much you tried to coax it? No, Makoto did not think so. Roses could be pretty stubborn and customers wanted ones in full bloom. Ami frowned. Behind them, Michiru and Haruka snickered. Makoto's shoulders slumped, dejected.

Later on they had gone skating and Makoto tried to teach Ami how to do a bunny hop. Ami was good at skating and had natural grace, so a simple figure skating move shouldn't have been too much of a stretch, but Ami _kept falling_. It was quite unusual. Even though the girl was so light, by the end of the evening Makoto's arms were killing her from the number of times she had had to catch her to prevent a fall.

There was that time when all their friends had ditched them, leaving the two alone, and Ami had spent the whole time blushing and Makoto couldn't help but blush in return, even though she didn't know why. Then they had run into THE JERK and Ami had behaved in a way that Makoto could have never predicted! Totally unlike her. Makoto had felt very shocked, but also very touched, and she could kind of understand why Ami had cried so hard then, although she wasn't sure why Ami had cried so hard after she gave her the book.

The credits began to roll. Damnit! She had missed the whole movie!

X

But who could she turn to for help? Rei and Minako mysteriously made themselves scarce, absolutely refusing to engage in conversation with Makoto whenever she mentioned the words "strange" and "Ami" in the same sentence. She had asked Haruka and Michiru, but they had just laughed and made their usual vague, unhelpful comments. Hotaru was too young and Setsuna was too old and both were too distant. So she had one option left.

She knocked on the door to the Tsukino's house and was welcomed in by Ikuko. She was ushered up to Usagi's room. Usagi was lying on the bed, reading manga, all the schoolbooks she had so diligently poured over these past few months now gathering dust on the desk. She looked up as Makoto entered.

"Ah, Mako-chan!" She sat up, crossed leg on the bed, lifting up the manga she was reading to show Makoto the cover. "You should read this! It's really cute, it's called _Chatting at the Amber-_"

"Usagi-chan, I've got an important question to ask you," Makoto interrupted, taking a seat on the bed next to Usagi. Usagi looked at her, wide-eyed, urging her forward. "Have you noticed anything…_strange_ about Ami lately?"

Usagi considered this for a moment, and then shrugged. "Not lately."

"Nothing at all?" Makoto pressed. If Usagi couldn't answer, Makoto would have to abduct Minako and Rei and force them to talk. Makoto really did not want to do that because Minako and Rei could be so difficult sometimes.

"What do you mean by strange? Honestly, she's always seemed strange to me. Who likes studying?"

Makoto shook her head. "No, not that kind of strange. I mean strange like…I don't know about everyone else, but around me, it kind of seems like she's been acting…different. Looking at me funny, blushing a whole lot, and a bunch of other stuff!"

"Hmm…" Usagi stood up and began pacing back and forth across the length of the room, chin in hand, concentrating very hard on trying to figure out what could be wrong with Ami. Makoto watched her in silence for a few minutes.

"Oh!" Makoto said, as yet more of Ami's strange behavior came to mind, "She also keeps calling me! And she says, 'Mako-chan, there's something I need to talk to you about', and then she goes, 'Nevermind', and changes the topic!"

Usagi suddenly stopped in her tracks and stood very, very still. This new piece of information changed everything. Suddenly inspired, Usagi realized exactly what was making Ami act strange.

"Mako-chan! Maybe Ami's acting strange in reaction to you?"

At Makoto's perplexed expression, Usagi sighed. Did she have to do all the thinking around here?

"Mako-chan, she must be acting strange because she doesn't really know how to deal with you and the fact that _you're in love with her_."

Makoto jumped to her feet. "What?" But her mind tuned out Usagi's elaboration as her thoughts raced through the events of the past few months and with sudden, horrible clarity, everything fell into place.

"Oh my God!" she said, and she dashed out of the room, leaving Usagi in mid-sentence.

X

Makoto often had a hard time concentrating.

Libraries were too silent. Coffee shops were too loud. Their study sessions tended to be perfectly in between the two extremes, though when she wanted to be alone, she had only one recourse.

Running. It took her a couple of kilometers to get into a consistent, moderately fast pace, but once she hit her stride she found that she could really think, the regularity of her breathing, and of her beating heart, and of her feet pounding against the pavement, sending her into a trance of sorts. She paid enough attention to avoid being hit by cars and running into pedestrians, but mostly, she concentrated on her thoughts.

And it all made sense.

When she had beat up those guys, enraged at their remarks. It wasn't just because Sailor Jupiter wanted out! It was because an insult to Ami was like an insult to Makoto, and besides that, threats to loved ones was something Makoto just did not allow. Then when she woke up at the hospital and saw Ami sitting there with that anxious look on her face, her heart skipped a beat, happy to see that someone she cared so much about cared about her in return.

And when they were fighting, and she had felt a rush of excitement at having Ami under her, the small girl flushed and panting heavily. And when she learned that Ami read porn, and couldn't resist trying to touch her the next morning, with that whole neck massage excuse. Then she had asked her mother to look after Ami, because Ami was acting so strangely, and if Makoto couldn't watch over her at all times then she wanted someone, at least, to be protecting her. How much more obvious could she get?

And at the study session, where Makoto couldn't stop blushing because Ami was staring at her so intensely. Makoto's disappointment at failing to live up to a Haruka-and-Michiru conversation obviously arose from a burning desire to live up to Ami's expectations. Then there was the way her heart leapt every time Ami slipped while trying to learn the bunny hop, which gave Makoto a perfect excuse to maintain close contact, and though catching Ami every time tired her arms, she felt like no matter how tired her arms were, she would never let her fall. She would lift the whole world, if Ami asked her to.

Finally, their "date". Makoto was blushing the whole time, so of course Ami was blushing too. If you knew one of your best friends was in love with you, wouldn't you? When they had bumped into each other and Ami had brushed the back of her skirt after standing up, the skirt lifted up just a bit, and Makoto 's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the expanse of skin she revealed. And then she had watched Ami the whole time while they were at the book store and she went out of her way to get that book Ami so obviously wanted but didn't want to splurge on, because she wanted Ami to be happy. Then their run-in with THE JERK, and Makoto had felt exhilarated that someone as amazing as Ami was standing up for her so strongly. Then she had held Ami in her arms while the smaller girl cried and she felt like she never wanted to let go because everything felt so…right.

It was so obvious!

She was in love with Ami.

Makoto changed course, a very specific destination in mind.

X

A few heavy thumps sounded through the condo, jolting Ami into wakefulness. She had fallen asleep on the living room couch, trying to read that book Makoto had gotten her. She glanced at the clock, high up on the wall. It was early evening. Her mother sometimes forgot her keys, but surely she wouldn't be home so early. Ami stood up and made her way to the front door, then peered into the peephole. She took a few steps backwards after catching a glimpse of the person waiting out front. After taking a few deep breaths, she swung the door open.

"Mako-chan, come in," she said, sounding far calmer than she actually felt. Her worst nightmare and greatest dream come true. She and Makoto, alone in her condo, Makoto dressed in athletic clothing and sweaty and flushed from exercise.

"Thanks, Ami-chan," Makoto said, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Ami quickly spun around the hide the blush that was rising to her face, leaving Makoto to follow behind her.

"Would you like some tea?" Ami asked, chancing a glance back. Makoto was looking at her with the strangest expression on her face…

"No, thanks. I've…uh, there's something I need to talk to you about. Right now."

Ami froze. Was Makoto finally going to confront her about all those phone calls that went nowhere? She was ushered into her own living room. Makoto planted her on the couch and then started to pace in front of her.

"The thing is," Makoto said, licking her lips, "Um, well." She chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah…sorry. This might not be the most appropriate time, and maybe I haven't thought this through completely, but I've got to do it right now, or I'll lose my nerve! And then what kind of Senshi of Courage would I be? Haha! Not a very good one at all…" she trailed off, and then faced Ami head-on, their eyes meeting.

Ami's heart skipped a beat, the combination of earnestness and determination in Makoto's eyes stirring something in her. So entranced was she by Makoto's green eyes that she barely heard the next words the other girl said:

"I really, really like you."

"Uh…what?" Ami asked, not really believing her ears.

Makoto's face was entirely red by this point, her ears nearly glowing, but she firmly maintained eye contact. "I really, really like you! That's putting it mildly, actually. I like you so much that I might even – no, not _might_. I like you so much that it's gotten right into love territory. I love you, Ami!"

A long beat followed. Ami was at a total loss for words.

"As in, I'm _in_ love with you," Makoto added, as if her declaration needed any clarification.

And now Ami knew exactly what to say.

"Makoto," she said, "Shut up and kiss me."

THE END

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><p>AN2: The girls have watched three movies in my four-chapter story.<p>

This fic could also have been titled, "Ami Over-analyzes Everything". I can relate…

I don't know if I'll ever write a sequel to this. This is the least angsty/drama-filled thing I've ever written and I'd like to keep it that way! But, we'll see.

Anyway, that's all, folks! Thank you to all my readers, I hope you enjoyed it. A special thanks to my reviewers, whose comments were much appreciated: **Shaoran009, Neanda, Gear001, TheKueken and Hobbes the Cat**. Finally: happy holidays, everyone!


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